Codex: Tyranids is on the prowl and the Genestealers are leading the way…

We’ve our hands on the new Tyranid Codex (it’s soooo good) and we’re going to be covering it all next week! But to showcase some of the changes we’re taking a quick peek at a long-time fan favorite: The Genestealers!

The Genestealers are back and they are bringing some new toys with them. For comparison sake, here’s their Index Entry:

As you can see, they have quite a few more options and rules. They have a couple of new weapon options in the form of Acid Maw and Flesh Hooks. Giving them a Ranged Attack is interesting and seems to fit with some of the old lore. The Acid Maw option means that 1 in every 4 models can come with an attack that is just better at reliably getting through armor.

Extended Carapaces is also interesting as it grants Genestealers the option to stay in their current form as a sleek, quick striker or to bulk-up and get a better armor save. With the right Hive Fleet Adaptation, you could have Genestealers running around with what amounts to a 3+ save…

The big block of text is their new Infestation ability. During your deployment you can place up to 4 infestation nodes anywhere in your deployment zone. You can then opt to deploy your Genestealers “lurking” – they are off the board. At the end of any of your movement phases you can deploy your lurking Genestealers wholly within 6″ of one of the nodes. That node is then removed from the game. However, if an enemy unit ever gets within 9″ of a node it is immediately destroyed and removed from the game. If all your nodes are destroyed before the Genestealers deploy, they are considered destroyed.

It’s risky – but it does prevent them from getting shot off the board in one turn. And the nodes can’t be shot to be destroyed; the enemy will have to commit to moving with 9″ of them. That might put them in a very risky position. On top of that, there is a stratagem named “Call the Brood” that also takes advantage of these nodes. It might be worth it to take a unit of 5 just to play shell games with your opponent. The Hive Mind wages war on many fronts…

What do you think of the new and improved Genestealers? Are you going to give the Infestation deployment option a shot? How about the Extended Carapace?